We're friends, Right?
by MissAleatory
Summary: After Orihime's disappearance, Tatsuki tries to find out what's going on. Will she manage to make Ichigo tell her? Or will they be pulled even further apart? Friendship, Multichapter, hopefully not OoC. T for Language.
1. Chapter 1

IchiTatsu (Friendship). Ichigo has drifted away from her lately, and she doesn't like it. Orihime is nice and all, but she misses her old friend. He was quite strong now, maybe they could have some decent fights. Tatsuki convinces Urahara to make Ichigo duel her. Whoever wins gets their way. If she wins, he has to tell her evrything. If he wins, they drift even further away.

Disclaimer: Um, this is ?...Duh, I don't own anything. Probably not even the idea, though I sincerely hope it is original.

Also, on another note, I hope this story gets finished soon, considering my wonderful record of continuity...and I am also well aware that the times are wrong (i.e. Ichigo doesn't take very long to go after Orihime, not long enough for all this to happen anyway) It can't happen afterward 'cause he loses all his powers...I just contradicted myself. I do hope this is somewhat comedic, at least further on.

_Damn it!_ Tatsuki thought as she walked briskly around the school halls. _Where the hell is Orihime! _The latter's presence had vanished the night before, but Tatsuki's mom hadn't let her go outside to look for her friend. It had been the middle of the night, but Tatsuki knew she was stronger than anyone who could mug her. Either way, though, she had to listen to her parents. That morning she had run to Orihime's house before school, and there had been no one there. There was a note, however. It carried detailed instructions to a non-present someone on the workings of the apartment. _Had Orihime run away? And what on earth could she have been running from? Was it suicide?_ Tatsuki tried not to consider the last one a possibility but it kept appearing in her head. Dammit, she had to ask Ichigo something. The last time Orihime had left had coincided oh-so-perfectly with Ichigo, Chad, and Ishida's vacations too. Ichigo had to be behind this. Or even if not, he would be the only one who talked. Seeing Ichigo walking sullenly along with his idiotic friends, she cornered him.

"Where the hell is Orihime?" she yelled.

"Why the hell should I know?" he objected.

"I see those weird creatures! I see you running around dressed in black with a giant sword! Trouble follows you Ichigo! I mean, what the hell happened to Kuchiki-san? You're lying! Why are you lying to me? I'm your friend, dammit!" she ranted. She was aware that everyone was looking at her and evil aura, but she couldn't care less. Her best friend had disappeared, and her ex-best friend was lying blatantly to her.

"It's none of your business." he said, shrugging it off without any sign of surprise on his face. _How dare he say that what he did to Orihime wasn't her business? How dare he say the things that haunt her aren't her business?_ Angered, she punched him through the wall and walked away. _Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, bastard Ichigo! If he wouldn't tell her, she'd find out some other way!_

That night, she followed his black-clad form to a shady-looking candy store a little out of town. She wondered if that was where Orihime was. Quickly scanning the perimeter and seeing nothing but a small black cat, she entered the building.

All she could see was that it was a candy store. Colorful sweets lined low shelves in rows at the store. She slipped off her shoes and hid them as she stepped onto the raised platform that indicated the owner's house was behind it. Carefully she peeked through a sliding door and then stepped in soundlessly as possible. The black cat jumped in beside her and meowed rather loudly for the time of night. Cats were nocturnal creatures after all. Is that cat following me? she asked herself, eying it suspiciously. It returned the stare in the blank way cats have. Shrugging off the thought, Tatsuki moved forward.

The room she walked through was completely bare, and on the other side of it was a big white double sliding door. The cat meowed again as Tatsuki opened the other door a crack. She looked into another empty room. How many empty rooms did this guy have? There was no way a shop this small would adjoin such a big house. This room seemed like a dead end, but there had been no kitchen and no bathroom in the area she'd explored. No bedroom either, for that matter. Maybe the full house was underground. Where the hell did I get that idea? she asked herself briefly, but continued to walk quietly around the room, tapping the floor with her feet as she walked to feel something hollow.

It took her a while to find it, and she would've wondered what kept her going, but she already knew. It was that feeling, the presence she felt every time Ichigo was around. Just like she could feel Orihime's presence, she could feel his as well. It was much stronger than hers. Feeling for an opening, she again searched her surroundings. The cat was still there, watching her curiously. She found the bump in the wood which gave off a slight wind, and dug her nails into the crvace, lifting the heavy object easily. Those were the benefits of being a girl, she thought smiling as she wondered how Ichigo would've opened the hatch as he had no nails.

She looked down the hatch and saw that the ground was far lower than she had imagined. Her heart almost skipped a beat as she saw the ladder bolted to the wall and her hair was blown back by an unnatural wind. The cat, not afraid of heights, walked up to the hatch and jumped onto one of the ladder rungs. It went down the huge ladder quickly and nimbly. Tatsuki held on to the sides of the hatch and looked in before going down.

The room was huge and wide, made of dirt. The upper walls and the roof were painted as the sky and the room was very well lit. Ichigo stood a ways away with his giant cleaver, fighting a man dressed in traditional clothes and a striped fedora. The man was fighting with a walking-stick, though one could tell he wasn't old. She wanted to know what Ichigo was up to and where Orihime was, but there was no way she could descend the ladder without being seen. If Ichigo didn't die by the hands of the fedora man, nor the fedora man by his hands, her clue to Ichigo would have to be the other guy. She watched for a while longer. The cat walked up to the middle of the fight and it stopped. The man picked up the cat and threw it up in the air like a baby. He then headed towards the opening where Tatsuki was, leaving Ichigo screaming curses at him.

Tatsuki ran as quietly as she could to the next room. She hid behind the solid wall and waited for the man to come out. If she tackled him before he saw her, she would have a chance. He seemed pretty strong fighting Ichigo. His sandaled footsteps were right behind her now. Jump!

He dodged swiftly.

"Hey there! I'm Urahara Kisuke, owner of this candy store! What would you lie to buy?" he said cheerfully. Tatsuki recoiled, wasn't this man some kind of warrior like Ichigo?

"What's up with Ichigo?" she asked forcefully.

"He's training, obviously!" he replied in the same over-cheerful mode.

"For what?" Tatsuki asked, getting angrier. The man's grin straightened itself and he replied for the first time in a way that made Tatsuki believe him.

"I can't tell you. Ichigo should be the one to tell you, though I can tell you could be told." he said. Tatsuki believed him for his tone, though the words were almost like a tongue-twister.

"How do I get him to tell me?" she asked, resolute.

"How did you get in here?" answered the cat in a gruff male voice.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah?" Tatsuki answered in a fairly manly yelp of confusion. _The cat was talking! It was a fricking cat! I must me losing my mind, first the ghosts, then the monsters, then Ichigo, now talking cats..._

"Stop glaring idiotically and answer my question." the cat continued in monotone. The blonde man just smiled.

"Didn't you see me come in?" Tatsuki asked after a short moment of thought. If cats could smile, this one did. The man continued, ignoring the cat.

"To make him tell you about himself, you need to give him a reason to." he said resolutely as if that vague answer explained everything.

"Like what kind of reason?" Tatsuki asked impatiently.

"Like beating him in a fight!" Urahara-san replied, raising a fan to cover his broad grin. Tatsuki went over the possibilities in her head. She wanted to fight Ichigo, no doubt he would be able to counter her this time. However, she didn't know the specifications of his black-clad form, other than the fact that he had a giant cleaver for a wepaon._ I can't go against him as long as he has that sword. I have no idea wether or not I would fight him when he's wearing that hakama. The ghoats aren't physical beings, maybe he isn't either. Not in that sense, at least. _

"When can I fight him?" she asks, making up her mind. He was her friend. She was not going to let him alone until he told her about his life. _It's not even like I'm butting into private affairs, the damned ghosts are after me too._

"Hw about right now?" replied Urahara-san, lowering his fan as a loud gruff voice called out.

"Oi, Hat-and-Clogs! Get your ass down here, already! You're supposed to be training me!" Tatsuki knew that was Ichigo's voice. Leave it to him to ignore rules of protocol and speak like that to someone much older than himself.

"What's he training for?" Tatsuki asked shortly as she, the cat, and the man walked towards the floor hatch.

"You'll see." said the man, again raising his fan. (A/N: That rhymes!), "Or maybe you won't" he added as he pocketed his fan and set his foot on the ladder.

"There you are, you slacker! Finally you've come to train!" Ichigo's voice rang out.

"I have a special training surprise for you." Urahara said, hiding partially behind his fan as he reached the floor. Tatsuki didn't know there had been a cue, but she waited for it regardless. She didn't see it, but Ichigo frowned.

"What's that old man?" Ichigo asked.

"A friend has come to challenge you." Urahara responded, purposefully mysterious. Ichigo ran through the bad possibilities in his mind. It could be any of the Gotei 13 who had discovered his plan. They had specifically told him to stay out of the situation. It was probably that lunatic Kenpachi though. It would be, with his luck. He didn't respond, but waited for the offender to appear. Urahara turned and waved up the hatch, which Tatsuki guessed was her not-so-subtle cue. She descended the ladder. Ichigo gaped.

"Tatsuki?" he asked loudly and incredulously. She didn't know wether to smile or wince. This fight would not be easy._ At least he didn't call me Tatsuki-chan, like he did the other day, _she thought. "What the hell are you doing here? You're challenging me? Didn't I tell you to stay out of it?" he continued yelling. Now she did wince. _So this training has something to do with Orihime._ She had to win.

"Ichigo, I challenge you to a karate match."

"What?"

"If I win, you have to tell me all about what's happening. If you win, I'll drop the subject and pretend this never happened."

"What the hell? Tatsuki, this has nothing to do with you! Do you really want to challenge me? You know it's not a fair match!"

"You're stronger now." she said briefly, addressing the second part of the question, ignoring the first. Ichigo turned to the kimono-clothed man who was watching the spectacle in amusement.

"Hat-and-Clogs, you dumb bastard why the hell did you let her challenge me!" he yelled. He was confused is all. He didn't want to lose a friend, but if he didn't practice he would, and if he took his time fighting Tatsuki and lost, he would have lost two.

"Haven't you gone to save friends these past two times? Save this one too, then." Urahara responded in a rare moment of serenity. Ichigo turned and looked at Tatsuki again, who was standing as determinedly as ever.

"Fine, I accept you challenge. But I can't fight in this body. You'll have to wait until my real one arives." he said, sitting on a rock. Tatsuki would have asked what kind of a body he was in now, but she decided against it, hoping with all her heart she would win. She too sat on a rock and waited.

A few minuted later, maybe fifteen or so, Ichigo's body, which was just like Ichigo came partially falling and partially climbing down the long ladder.

"What the hell Kon! It's not your fucking body, so be more fricking careful!" Ichigo yelled at the orange-haired lump on the floor, standing up and running towards it.

"You're always treating me so badly! One day, I will take over your body, when you die! And all the women will swoon over me." 'Kon' replied, standing. Ichigo looked like he would have punched Kon to high heavens if the latter was using his own body. Grumpily, Ichigo stepped into his body and coughed up a small green sphere. Tatsuki was staring with wide eyes. She shouldn't have been so surprised, after all the ghosts she'd talked to, but she was. This explains those times when Ichigo makes no sense, she thought as she stood up composing herself. An unspoken sentence passed between them and the two charged.


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: I am awful at writing battle scenes so I'm just gonna wing it. a.k.a. write a battle as a psychological. Apology in advance. Also, Ichigo is one of the hardest characters to write. Ever. I'm calling Urahara "Urahara-san" 'cause that's what Tatsuki would call him. Also, please review? Don't own Bleach, don't own anything, but I dreamt I owned a doughnut. **

**My spelling in this thing sucks, 'cause my spellcheck says everyone's names are spelled wrong so I don't bother going through it to find actual mistakes, since everything's red anyway. On another note, I'll probably change the genre, change the Humour into General, 'cause I suck at humour. If anyone has any suggestions of humorous anecdotes to use, I'd gladly use them.)**

Ichigo was in his human body now. Tatsuki had won second place in the girl's karate competition in Japan. Of course she could beat him. _Of course,_ she thought. But as their arms clashed, as the blows were exchanged she felt herself be pushed to her limits. Ichigo used to be a wimp, even recently, he was still a wimp. She hadn't noticed before but when she thought about it, he had gotten visibly stronger in the past months. _Visibly so, very visibly._ And Tatsuki had only gotten so far in the WOMEN'S competition. She could do quite well against most guys, but a supernatural one, she wasn't too sure of.

He was very fast, she could almost not keep up. He jumped higher than a normal human should be able to, she was no match. _I have to be a match. I have to be even better than one. If I don't beat him I lose my best friend. Maybe I should start calling him my ex-best friend. Maybe I should have already started. Damn! If you lose focus and determination you really will lose dammit! _She mentally yelled at herself as the karate fight continued. **(A/N: I know nothing about karate so I can't really write the real fight...)**

She was distracted by herself, he caught her off guard. She gasped as he managed to pin her down. She had lost. It was over. She wouldn't be surprised if they never spoke again. I can't give up yet! Dammit Ichigo, I don't go down without a fight and this was next to nothing. Motivation raging, she knocked him off her. Everyone knows how strong Tatsuki is in a rage, right? The battle continued. Ichigo took a moment to glare at Urahara-san's mocking grin, and that proved his downfall. She stood above him now, pinning him down. Evil aura emanating strongly from her body.

"Now tell me everything, Baka." she said through gritted teeth. Ichigo wasn't cowering like most people would be. Then again, she couldn't expect him to have been, could she? She had seen the monsters he'd fought. On his face was a mask of worry and determination somehow articulately combined.

"Fine." he mumbled as they both stood up. Urahara-san was no longer wearing his smile-mask. He sat on a rock, head tilted down, observing the teenagers from the shadow of his hat. "I'm a shinigami." Ichigo said.

Tatsuki wanted to mock him, or hit him for saying something so stupid and unreasonable, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. For some reason, she was believing him.

"I got my powers from Ru-...Kuchiki-san when a hollow, that's the monsters, attacked my family. She lost her powers so I had to help her do her job. Hollows are dead souls who were not sent to Soul Society, that's heaven. I saved Orihime and you from her brother's hollow. They go after the people they love first."

"I remember that vaguely," Tatsuki mumbled to herself, squinting as if to better see the past.

"Y-yeah," Ichigo mumbled. It was obvious he didn't know what to do with his hands as he was fiddling with them awkwardly. "Well, the people from Soul Society came to get Kuchiki-san because it's illegal to give powers to a human. Her brother took my powers and nearly killed me, but Urahara-san saved me." Ichigo continued in a low voice, nodding slightly at Urahara-san, who when Tatsuki turned to him, spread a coy smile. Tatsuki shook her head and turned again to Ichigo, who was hanging his head. "I got my _powers_ back. and went to save her." he continued. Tatsuki noticed he put an extra emphasis on "powers". She looked around, but the cat was still emotionless and Urahara-san had not yet dropped his smile.

"That was after the fireworks festival?" Tatsuki half-asked, half-pointed out.

"Bravo!" was Urahara-san's call while Ichigo just sat there.

"Orihime, Sado-kun and Ishida-kun went with you." Tatsuki said. Ichigo nodded.

"They chose to, I had no say in it!" he responded grumpily at seeing Tatsuki's face switch to "protective-of-Orihime." mode. Tatsuki was still mad, but she didn't freak out. That much was good. "Whatever."Ichigo mumbled. "So we went with... Yoruichi-cat-person." he continued, pointing at the former. _That's a person?_ Tatsuki thought.

"That's not very nice, Ichigo." the cat responded in a flirtatious voice, all of a sudden female. And stark naked. **(A/N: I'm serious, there was no pun intended.)** Tatsuki yelped and turned around. If there was anything she didn't need it was to see a naked woman. Chizuru forcing herself onto her was bad enough. Urahara-san laughed loudly. Tatsuki opened her eyes to see Ichigo also turned around, the back of his neck was bright red, obviously his face would be. _He's strong now, but he's still innocent. _"Fine, I'm back now." the cat said, masculine voice returned. Urahara-san was still laughing. Tatsuki slowly turned around. Surely, the cat was a cat again. "Yes I have a masculine voice in cat form." 'Yoruichi' said in a 'Thank-you-Captain-Obvious' tone of voice.

"Um-um, continuing." Ichigo stuttered, red-faced. "So we met a bunch of crazies and got split up. I ended up with the biggest crazy. Then we fought a bunch of even crazier people, shinigami," he corrected, "I nearly got killed more times, but I was saved by cat lady and myself. We saved Rukia, and there was a big plot centred around this thing that stupid Mr. Hat-and-Clogs created." Ichigo glared slightly. Urahara-san smiled sheepishly. "Some captains betrayed Soul Society and I got into the Soul Society good books. Rukia stayed." Tatsuki noted that his sarcastic account wavered slightly in the speaking of the last phrase.

"The bad captains made an army of Arrancars. I'll explain that later. Orihime is with them now. Suposedly she went of her own will, but it's not possible. She wouldn't betray us. Not with the usefulness of her power. She woldn't let her friends die." Ichigo was ranting now, his fists were clenched.

"What power?" Tatsuki asked, before Ichigo could get carried away by himself.

"She has six faeries who give her powers. Two heal, three shield, and one rejects." Ichigo rambled.

"She has powers!" Tatsuki repeated incredulously. "How, since when?" Ichigo would have laughed if the situation hadn't been so grim.

"Since she was exposed to the Strawberry in shinigami form." Yoruichi-cat said. Ichigo defended himself.

"It wasn't my damn fault! She would've died if I didn't do that. Her and Tatsuki! Ah, damnit, I'm not going through all of this with her!"

"You have to, you lost!" Tatsuki objected, running after him.

"She's right, y'know." Urahara-san said from behind his fan a little too joyfully for the situation. Tatsuki was fast and that one girl in their class was even faster, but Urahara-san had moved to in front of Ichigo faster than Tatsuki could follow with her eyes.

"Holy shit.." she mumbled as Ichigo flew into a rage.

After Ichigo calmed down, Urahara-san finished the story. _So Sado-kun and Orihime both have powers because of Ichigo. _Tatsuki stood pondering for only a few seconds after the account was finished.

"Ichigo, I'll train alongside you." she said with determination. Ichigo recoiled.

"What? No way! I'm not ruining someone else's life by dragging them into this! No fricking way!" he yelled. Tatsuki smiled in spite of herself.

"You would be ruining my life by not letting me." she responded.

"You don't know all that happened. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Yeah, I do. You and Urahara-san just told me!" she said, her voice rising slightly, "I'm getting into an otherworldly fight which Sado and Orihime can both handle! Remember that I beat you just now. Remember the one who always beat you. I'm not weak, y'know." Towards the end her voice had calmed, but her teeth and fists were clenched. She and Ichigo glared at each other until Urahara-san started laughing. Then they glared at him.

"I'm not gonna let you." Ichigo said.

"I don't care if you let me." Tatsuki retorted. They went back to their argument ignoring the blonde man behind them, "I'm not gonna let YOU take away Orihime, and put her in danger, and take away yourself even! I'm not some damned damsel in distress that's gonna watch you fight! And I don't care whether or not you let me, I'll help you. I'll help you with or without powers!" Tatsuki's menacing aura had risen again, the second time that day. Well, night. This was not Ichigo's day it seemed. He clenched his teeth and fists and nodded.

"Fine, but you better not get in my way." he accepted. Tatsuki smiled.

"Will do, baka." she replied. Urahara-san cheered.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Don't own Bleach, don't own anything. My spelling in this thing sucks, 'cause my spellcheck says everyone's names are spelled wrong so I don't bother going through it to find actual mistakes, since everything's red anyway. On another note, I'll probably change the genre, change the Humour into General, 'cause I suck at humour. If anyone has any suggestions of humorous anecdotes to use, I'd gladly use them.**

**On another note: I am sorry to all those I dissapoint! This chapter is way too short!**

After Ichigo calmed down, Urahara-san finished the story. _So Sado-kun and Orihime both have powers because of Ichigo. _Tatsuki stood pondering for only a few seconds after the account was finished.

"Ichigo, I'll train alongside you." she said with determination. Ichigo recoiled.

"What? No way! I'm not ruining someone else's life by dragging them into this! No fricking way!" he yelled. Tatsuki smiled in spite of herself.

"You would be ruining my life by not letting me." she responded.

"You don't know all that happened. You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"Yeah, I do. You and Urahara-san just told me!" she said, her voice rising slightly, "I'm getting into an otherworldly fight which Sado and Orihime can both handle! Remember that I beat you just now. Remember the one who always beat you. I'm not weak, y'know." Towards the end her voice had calmed, but her teeth and fists were clenched. She and Ichigo glared at each other until Urahara-san started laughing. Then they glared at him.

"I'm not gonna let you." Ichigo said.

"I don't care if you let me." Tatsuki retorted. They went back to their argument ignoring the blonde man behind them, "I'm not gonna let YOU take away Orihime, and put her in danger, and take away yourself even! I'm not some damned damsel in distress that's gonna watch you fight! And I don't care whether or not you let me, I'll help you. I'll help you with or without powers!" Tatsuki's menacing aura had risen again, the second time that day. Well, night. This was not Ichigo's day it seemed. He clenched his teeth and fists and nodded.

"Fine, but you better not get in my way." he accepted. Tatsuki smiled.

"Will do, baka."

Thus the training started.

Tatsuki would tell her mother she was going to Orihime's house. She would train the basics of sword-fighting and supernatural defence with Urahara-san before Ichigo snuck out of his own house. After that she would fist-fight him while he was in shinigami form so that he would leak his energy onto her. After that she would watch him train his own skills against Urahara-san. The overdose of reiatsu often made her feel sick, but she was a strong woman, so she could handle it. At least that's what she kept telling herself. If she wanted to be strong, and be able to protect others, she had to handle it. Orihime managed. She was kinda dead though. Chad managed too, though. He was alive when it happened_. I can do it too._

_ I'm not getting anywhere,_she thought after a month. But honestly, she had gotten hardly any results at all. Chad and Orihime got immediate ones. Maybe she was just not the right type of person. The powers they got weren't like shinigami powers, but they were triggered by shinigami powers. But that's the key word isn't it? TRIGGERED.

The end of that month signified the day Ichigo left for Hueco Mundo. Tatsuki acted like she knew only as much as Keigo and Mizuiro. They watched as Ishida, Ichigo and Chad walked through what Tatsuki learned was the Garganta: a gate from this world into the hollow world. She left the Urahara Store with the two boys but came back to it really soon after ditching them.

"Urahara-san?" she asked.

"Yes~?" he responded.

"It's been a month. Why don't I have powers yet?"

"Well~ maybe you just haven't had the chance to use them yet!"

"I've been training! That's a good moment to use your powers in, right?"

"Well, simple training like you did never helped anyone. Would you like to try the kind of training Ichigo did?" he said through his fan. His voice had hardly changed at all, but Tatsuki could tell that Ichigo's training had been far from easy. She had always been stronger than him, though. She could do this. Right?

"Yes." she said. It was only one syllable but its impact was massive.


	5. Chapter 5

Haven't updated in forever, forgive me. Forgive me also for any idiocy, inaccuracy, and general lack of humour.

Urahara-san smiled wider, if that was possible, slightly lowering his fan to expose his grin. "Oh, Ururu! Could you come down here a minute?" he yelled up at the hole in the floorboards of his house. A meek, black-haired girl appeared at the top of the ladder almost immediately. She scrambled down as fast as she could.

"Yes, Urahara-san, sir." she replied humbly.

He smiled, and waved at the little girl. "Today we have to train another silly teenager."

"Yes, sir."

"What kind of a dumb insult is 'silly'? Tatsuki interrupted, no one paid her any mind.

"It's that girl over there, but she specializes in hand-to hand combat, so I'm going to give her some extra armour, OK?" Urahara-san explained.

"Yes sir." The girl replied once more and scurried off to some corner or other. Tatsuki just stared at the blond man like he was crazy. Which wasn't very unlikely at all, to be honest. Ururu came back with three polka dotted semicircles, one of which was definitely a helmet, and a bunch of things that looked like blue plastic.

"The first stage of training: you must fight Ururu." spoke Urahara-san.

"What?"

"The first step of the first stage" Urahara-san singsonged, "Is to kill you!" he finished off still semi-singing with no malice in his voice, stabbing his blunt cane through her body, separating her body from her soul, being held by a chain to her body.

"W-what" she asked weakly in a mild state of fear.

"Now put on this armour~!"

"It doesn't stay on!"

"Say 'in the name of justice, peace, and friendship. Armor activate!"

"HELL no."

Urahara-san shrugged, "your choice."

Tatsuki looked uneasy "Will it hurt?" she asked.

"Oh, it will kill" Urahara-san responded calmly.

"Well, shit!"

"There are children present!"

"In the name of justice, peace, and friendship! Armour Activate!" Tatsuki yelled. Urahara burst out laughing.

"Works... every.. time!" he gasped between peals of laughter. Tatsuki would have gone to beat him up right then and there but Ururu, who apparently had power to kill was about to kick her upside the head. Tatsuki dodged the flying child relatively easily. She was strong, but she was also agile. Ichigo's style was just pure pummelling, no style involved. Tatsuki aimed to land a punch on the girl, but the girl was already behind her. Seeing this pattern repeated a few times, while in easy access to dodge, she threw a bluff punch in front of her, kicking behind her in a spinning motion. It barely hurt Ururu's helmet. Urahara-san blew a whistle, signifying the end of the fight.

"Next task!"

"Can't I have a breather?"

"Nope~!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Do you know what this is?" he asked her, pointing at the chain. She shook her head. "It's a soul chain. If the soul chain is cut, then the person is dead. They become unable to return to their bodies, making them ghosts, and their bodies corpses." he continued. Tatsuki didn't know exactly how that all related, but it couldn't be good. It wasn't. "Drink this!" Urahara-san exclaimed again, basically pouring some weird liquid down her throat. Then he pulled a long blade out of his cane and snapped the chain in half.

"What the hell?" Tatsuki yelled. The ground opened up under her and she fell, well, a long ways. The tall shop assistant was there and all of a sudden long black tendron-things embedded with sticks came of of nowhere and imprisoned her. "WHAT THE HELL?" she yelled again, "Holy shit, what are these things?" she continued, seeing the creepy chains sprouting mouths.

"At the end of 3 days you will either become a hollow, or a shinigami. You have to climb out of there."

"My hands are restrained!"

"Exactly~!"

"Go burn in hell."

"Oh, but I've already been sent to heaven!" Tatsuki would have stopped to wonder about what he just said if she hadn't heard the munching sounds of the chain slowly, or not so slowly, receding. She let out a string of curses at Urahara-san, at Ichigo, and weird barrier assistant guy. Mostly she was just trying to let out her anger so she could focus on a way out. She couldn't punch the floor or the wall or something, since she was restrained, so she used her voice. Calling Urahara-san those names felt strangely satisfying, and after she almost lost her voice, she began to think of a way. She tried to get barrier-assistant dude to give her a tip, but he was more quiet than Sado-kun. Heck, she could just call him quiet-dude.

Two days passed, and they wouldn't even give her food. She was running out of time, and she was hungry. "How the hell am I supposed to put up against this thing while having no nutrition!" she called to Urahara-san who had come to check on their progress.

"Spiritual beings don't require nutrition. If you become a Shinigami, it won't matter. And if you become a hollow neither, since we will kill you."

Well that came as a surprise. Urahara being serious. She didn't want to argue, his tone said that arguing would do nothing for her. She had gotten over panicking hours ago. Well, she thought it was hours, but she couldn't know for sure. The fake sky was above her all day and night, never changing. She let out a gruelling scream of rage, trying to fuel herself into breaking the restraints.

"Shut up stupid girl!" yelled the red-haired boy who had watched her "fight" with Ururu.

"Shut up yourself, brat! You haven't been in here!"

"You're the brat! And I have!"

"What?"

"Shut up." he stuck his tongue out at her and then walked away.

"Stupid brat, but, he's a shinigami?" she wondered internally. Her chest started to hurt, more than it had before. There were two links left on the chain. Shit. She had to become a shinigami, NOW! Shit. Shinigami, Shinigami, shinigami. One link left. Oh Fuck. She would just give up then and there, but she wasn't going to die, Ichigo made it, so will she. Hell, even red-head kid made it. .! she repeated it as a mantra in her head. She knew she wouldn't make it. She screamed aloud, a gruelling, chest-wracking scream of someone who had seen everyone die, of a soul who was about to become a monster.

"Why is it that you aim to become a shinigami?" a voice asked her from somewhere around the white blankness she stood in all of a sudden. Not a familiar voice, but she had no time to waste.

"To save Orihime. And Ichigo. And never let them be lost to me.." she said, more quietly than usual. With lost conviction.

"You can become a shinigami, but you must be determined to do anything for it. It sounds as if you have lost your determination."

"Hell No. I'll never lose that! I WILL become a shinigami!" she yelled, all hope coming back into her voice. The voice laughed, and she was back in the hole. Quiet-dude's eyes went wide, and he moved his hands from the sign which had held the restraints. To Tatsuki's surprise and ecstasy, she shot up into the air, and out of the hole. She noticed a few things right away. First, that her clothes were different, second, that she wasn't hungry or tired any more, and third, that she was holding a katana.


	6. Chapter 6

"Keigo?" Mizuiro asked his idiotic friend. "Do you think Tatsuki's acting strange?"

"Yeah! She hasn't hit anyone in a week!"

"Do you think she went back to the weird man with the striped fedora?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Ichigo, Sado, and Ishida-san disappeared into a giant hole in dimensions. It's normal to figure SOMETHING is up."

"But Arisawa hasn't disappeared, she's still here!"

"So is Ichigo. But it's not Ichigo, we saw him leave. And it's not Arisawa, either. It's like someone else is in their bodies."

"Why do you say that?"

"They don't act like Arisawa and Ichigo, and when they're around it doesn't FEEL like Arisawa and Ichigo. It's a little nonsensical but it's like I can feel their presences, and they're not here anymore."

"Yeah, I get that a little too."

"Do you think she went back to the man with the weird hat?"

"I don't know. He was really scary."

"I'm going there after school."

"WHAT? But he's a freak!"

"But I want to know what's going on."

"I guess I'll go with you. I want to know, too."

"It feels so empty up here."

"Yeah. Ichigo eats downstairs, like everyone else. I guess fake Ichigo doesn't know that he's supposed to eat up here."

"And Chad's not here either."

"He went through that hole."

"Along with that nerd that Ichigo brought up here."

"Ishida-kun, yeah. And Inoue-san, when she ate up here."

"Ah, Inoue-san! Why did you disappear!"

"Ha, I fucking did it!" Tatsuki cheered, fist pumping the air. Urahara clapped slowly.

"Now, you may advance to part three of the training." he said. Tatsuki frowned.

"I've made it. I'm a shinigami now. What more is there?"

"Well, you have to knock my hat off." It seemed too easy. This was Urahara, Hat-and-Clogs, there had to be a catch. Tatsuki had never been one to show weakness, though.

"No problem." she said, grinning, but with a growing feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Urahara only smiled wider, making the feeling intensify much faster. She already regretted having said her cocky words.

"I'm waiting~" he said, grinning. She took a deep breath, gulped, and charged.

Her sword was headed to a point slightly above his head, so it would only catch his hat. In one fluid and almost invisible motion, the eccentric man drew a thin sword from his cane, deflected her sword, and dodged. Tatsuki fell, her knees and hands dragging across the training room's dirt floor. She stood up and turned around as quickly as she could. Urahara still wore his haunting smile. She remembered the voice in her head, telling her she couldn't lose her will to fight. She wiped her hands on her shikahusho and stood at the ready. Considering the mystery surrounding the man, that was probably just a small sample of his fighting skills.

"Wise move, waiting for the opponent to strike first." Urahara said helpfully. Tatsuki continued to watch his every movement. "But, if you don't try I'll gladly stand around all day." Tatsuki made a feint, trying to see if he would attack her, but he seemed to know that it was a feint and did not even move. She ground her teeth. Infuriating trickster. Tatsuki was pissed now. And when Tatsuki is pissed she can easily break concrete walls and run as fast as a cheetah. Which is, unfortunately, slower than shunpo, and weaker than Urahara.

The battle was really on now. Tatsuki continued to strike, clumsily, but relentlessly. Urahara deflected and dodged every blow with a smile on his face. After closely dodging another stab, at his stomach, it seemed that the girl had forgotten she was trying to knock his hat off and not kill him. Oh well, there was only one remedy for that. It was really surprising how alike Ichigo and this girl were. Urahara attacked, chopping the flimsy spiritless sword in half. Tatsuki looked like she was about to be hit by an electronic train at full speed. Which is actually similar to what was about to happen. Tatsuki was the one dodging now, her blocks did nothing but reduce the length of her sword. There was some kind of red energy shooting from Urahara's sword when he swung. It blew up rocks and ground around her.

He was obviously going easy on her. Otherwise she would have been the target for those red things. She tried to think out her situation. Urahara was obviously not using his full strength, and she did not know what his full strength was. Major disadvantage. He was also astoundingly fast, and if Ichigo's description of shunpo was anything to go by, this was nothing compared to his maximum speed. Another major disadvantage. The man had to be hundreds of years old, more skilled. Yet another major disadvantage. Tatsuki briefly wondered if she had any advantages at all.

Then, she realized grimly, she didn't. But, that wasn't the point. Ichigo didn't either. He was still physically weaker than her. But, what he did have, and what she also did, was an inexplicable fighting spirit. She remembered the dismembered voice in the white space.

Turning around abruptly, she held up her arms in front of her, a defensive stance. She didn't bother raising her sword, knowing her flimsy sword was no use against the other katana. Ichigo had mentioned shinigami swords had names, right? She, for some unknown reason, felt the urge to say something. Maybe, just maybe, it was that same voice in her head again. Everything turned quiet, white, peaceful.

"Skewer, Machibuse!"

And all of a sudden, she was holding a much more familiar pair of weapons, tonfas. And the eccentric man was right in front of her. And she raised her arm, faster than she could see. It took her a split second to realize she had raised it at all. The man jumped back smoothly, For just a second, she had the upper hand. She jumped, barely missing his hat with her weapon as she came down. But no. Somehow, the green hat was on the floor.

"Congratulations." Urahara said neutrally. Tatsuki allowed herself to relax. "Now to stage four."

"WHAT?" she growled, raising her arms in an attack stance, dark aura surrounding her once again.


End file.
